Volume H Chapter 3

Volume H Chapter 3

[Just one person, Hayama Hayato disappears into the darkness of the night.]

The temperature dropped a sharp notch after school.

Even within the school, with the excepting of the classrooms that were currently being heated, there were no signs of life anywhere as the cold air creeped up the corridors. Near the entranceway, was the student council room, and thanks to the wind that blew through the gaps of the door, the room grew even colder.

This school was built near the coast, and without the aid of big buildings, the sea breeze blew relentlessly to us. Add to that, Chiba Prefecture was one of Japan’s flattest prefecture. It was a prefecture where the wind blew freely about. While we are at it, it’s also a prefecture where people feel at home and are quite active. Wait a minute, why does it sound like some recruitment poster for some black business? It’s really quite surprising that the commuter town of Tokyo, Chiba can convincingly become a nest of corporate slaves!

However, having lived through 17 years, the bodies of Chiba citizens have already grown accustomed to this cold wind. Thanks to that, I have also grown accustomed to the harshness of this world.

That said, the clubroom was still warm just a few moments ago, but the rapid change of temperature now was a little harsh. I really want to enter a warm clubroom…… I knocked on the door of the student council clubroom that was currently in use when my hand was grabbed all of a sudden.

It was a cat hand that grabbed my hand. The cat hand was just like something from a cartoon character costume, fluffy and with a pink sole.

“Here you go, if you don’t mind it. There are some here for Isshiki-san’s group as well.”

Saying that, the cat hand gave me a plastic bag that had several cans of coffee inside. What’s up with this cat hand…… Are you like those moms that give out souvenirs each time your child’s friends visit?

Looking up, right in front of me, waving the cat mitten roughly about was Yukinoshita. I see you have found a use for that mitten…… I am so happy for you……

And then, right behind Yukinoshita, was Yuigahama. Whether she was giving or receiving presents, she always had that blissful look on her face. Is that like some lucky chain, Pay It Forward?

Or perhaps I should say, right now, it’s about the can of MAX coffee I got from the cat hand.

“Are you sure it’s okay to bring this in? We are going to be in the student council room for just a while, you know……”

“It shouldn’t be a problem. We are going to be using their room for quite a while. I think this would be quite an easy to understand way of expressing our sincerity, don’t you think?”

“Hmm, if you say so, I guess.”

In reality, I had no idea how long we were going to be stuck inside the student council room.

For the sake of having a 1 to 1 chat with Hayama, I wanted to get him effortlessly and with certainty by waiting to nab him the instant he leaves for home.

However, the sad part was that he was the president of the soccer club. Even though it was quite inefficient to do so, I had no choice but to wait until the absolute end-of-school timing.

With that said, I also had no idea when their club activities ended.

Even though our school field was not particularly huge, but with the soccer club, baseball club, rugby club and the track-and-field club all jumbled together, they all had to make compromises for each other. Consequently, owing to the differences between their scope of activity as well as the duration of their club activities, the negotiations between each club also varied.

If so, then to ensure that I would definitely meet Hayama, it would be way more convenient for me to just camp at the student council room that was near the entranceway. No matter how late it was, there probably wouldn’t be any complaints if it was the student council. Woo! Power is the greatest! Anyway, I guess I would be intruding upon their clubroom for quite a bit.  Isshiki had always been coming unannounced to our clubroom anyway, so this sort of reverse pattern was quite fresh as well.  Breaking the stereotype is going to be good for the both of us.

“…… Well then, I am going to wait here to talk to Hayama. You girls should head home first.”

“But, leaving it all to you is ……”

Yuigahama seemed to have trouble getting her words out and glanced over at Yukinoshita to seek her views on this.

However, Yukinoshita shook her head slightly. I agreed with Yukinoshita as well. Rather than have them help out, I had originally wanted to get the girls away in order to have a 1 to 1 chat I so as to put forth my proposal.

“Furthermore, it would be a big problem if you two staying back results in the creation of yet another rumor. Don’t worry about it. Be it Marinpia [1] , or Chiba, find anyone you know or on good terms with and enjoy yourselves, whatever.”

Yukinoshita placed her hands on her jaw and thought for a while before looking up.

“That’s true. My apologies but please allow us to take our leave then.”

“Un. I still feel kind of bad for letting Hikki do all the work……”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s my job after all.”

I replied in a lighthearted tone to the two of them who were looking my way with concern. Then, Yukinoshita smiled.

“Can’t believe I would hear those words from you.”

I know right? Instinctively, I nodded my head with a self-depreciating smile on my face. Yuigahama seemed to have made up her mind as well, and readjusted the backpack that she was carrying.

“Then, see you tomorrow.”

“Ah, see you.”

I waved my hand to the two of them as they walked towards the entrance. Once more, I reached for the door of the student council room.

I knocked on the door a few times, then proceeded to wait awhile for a reply.

“Come in.”

The voice that replied sounded a little surprised and that was followed by a hurried pitter-patter of footsteps. Then, the doorknob turned slowly, and with a creak, the door opened a few centimeters. Then, I could see a somewhat cute girl with glasses and pigtails peeping through the door.

“Ah, ummm, may I know what business you have here?”

This girl was indeed Secretary-chan. In between bouts of hesitation, she asked me for my purpose of visit. Her eyes gave off a “Fuee, I don’t know this person at all…… so scary……” sort of feeling but I wonder if that was just my imagination.

However, the one who was being mentally strong here was me. Here I was, putting on a brave front and pretending that I actually knew her. She opened the door and I extended the plastic bag towards her.

“Hello. Here, have this.”

“Ah, ermm, thank you for very much for your thoughtful gesture.”

Not really sure what else there was to be said, I pushed the plastic bag to her. Thereupon, the timid Secretary-chan still seemed unable to accept the gift, then bowed quickly and gave her thanks.

No no no, you can’t just go around accepting gifts from strangers!

“Umm, umm president, someone’s here with refreshments.”

Nonetheless, Secretary-chan seemed troubled to have been given refreshments and so called out to Isshiki who was inside the room. Upon hearing the word refreshment, Isshiki came out from inside the room. When she saw the contents of the plastic bag, her eyes sparkled.

“Waa, aren’t you just thoughtful, Senpai? Thank you very much~”

“Huh? Why the past tense? [2] Also, you are already heading back in after just taking this?!”

Hearing me say that, Isshiki cocked her head.

“Huh? Do you have some business here?  I don’t think I can be of any help.”

What a refreshing criterion you have for yourself, Irohasu~. If I have no business here I wouldn’t be here, you know? Well, it’s true, I won’t come here if I have no business here. Anyway, I do have some business here.

“Isshiki, let me borrow this room.”

“Hah?”

This time, Isshiki tilted her head in the other direction.

        X                                                                                     X                                                                            X

The window in the student council room overlooked the courtyard, which was illuminated by the afterglow of the sunset and the inorganic streetlamps.

The people that were leaving from their club activities had to pass through this courtyard. Thus, from the student council room, I ought to be able to see when the people from the soccer club left for home.

Moreover, thanks to the great investment of the current student council president, Isshiki, this place was just perfect for staying for a long period of time to wait for Hayama.

Right now, the halogen heater was giving off a ‘Myon Myon’ sound [3] and the far infra-red radiation it gave off struck my feet repeatedly, warming it considerably.  This is a really excellent place to lie in wait indeed.

As I slurped my MAX coffee noisily, I walked over to the windows and took a look outside.

Isshiki stood beside me, doing the same. Only her fingertips could be seen from the excessively long-sleeved cardigan as she brought the cocoa-can to her mouth and started drinking it.

“Seems like Hayama-senpai still isn’t here yet…”

“Yup.”

I had already told Isshiki my purpose for staying here. When she first heard me make my request, she was saying, “Wouldn’t that mean I would be going home late?” and gave me a troubled look. It was only when I said Hayama’s name that she grudgingly allowed me to stay in the council room.

The other student council members had already gone home.

While it was quite impressive that the Vice-President and Secretary-Chan went home together, but Vice-Prez you bastard, go and do your work, damn it. Well, I am the one who’s getting in the way of their job though……

Speaking of work, I suddenly recalled something.

“Speaking of which, aren’t you the manager? I want to ask, is the soccer club going to finish its activities soon?”

“Who knows?”

Isshiki answered swiftly.

“Who knows…..?”

This isn’t ‘Guardian Angel Getten’ you know…… [4] Please do your management job properly……

“Isn’t it cold this time of the year?”

Then, she gave an embarrassed laugh. Not only was that super sly, it was a super cute laugh as well! What’s up with this girl, she’s really super cute……

However, is this really okay……? Then again, I was the one who got her to take up the role of student council president, the one who told her that she would be able to make use of this position.

Being able to swim along with the tide was one of the charming things about Isshiki Iroha, or you could say that it was one of her abilities.

Conversely, I was horrible at knowing how to go along with the flow. I was doing all this in vain. Just like how, right now, I was here in the student council room. In the past, when I gave my hand phone number to Hayama, I should have gotten his as well and be done with this. Having said that, asking his number from others was also kind of awkward.

This is seriously such a round-about argument……

If Hayama and I were good buddies…… He would be inviting me to go somewhere with like a ‘YO MAN! WASSUP! COME ON MY HOUSE!’ [5] that sort of feeling. No way in hell am I going. I hate that sort of Hayama.

Anyway, there’s nothing I can do today but wait for Hayama to come.

I decided to gaze outside and for a swift moment, my eyes met with Isshiki’s in the reflection of the glass. Isshiki noticed this as well and she giggled.

“But, this is really unexpected. That you would actually go this far, Senpai.”

“Is it?”

Glancing back at Isshiki, I saw her nodding her head.

“Yup, I thought you would be saying things like, leave me out of this or this is pointless or bunch of idiots and the like.”

Uwaaaa ~, that totally sounds like what I would say! I mean, Irohasu really understands me quite a lot. Seems like you have reached the third grade for understanding Hikigaya [6]. Yosh, I am going to give you Pa Pa 80000 points!

But well, it’s the truth though. I am sure that ordinarily, I would probably have called Isshiki out on her words and actions. Isshiki was quite sharp at recognizing these slight changes in my actions.

“I mean, you purposely came all this way to the student council room to wait……”

As Isshiki looked at me, she hummed to herself, thinking of something. Although she had those seemingly cute eyes, they seemed as though they were able to see through my intentions and motives, and became quite scary. That’s why, I averted my eyes from her.

Then, as though Isshiki seemed to be mindful of something, she jumped backwards, distancing herself from me.

“……Ha, are you trying to create some sort of rumor since there’s only the two of us in this room. When that becomes a reality, are you going to hope that I will become aware of that rumor and then make a pass on me? There are lots of learning points that I can see from this plan. I think I am going to use this next time but if the results aren’t good, I’m going to reject you as well, I am sorry.”

She said all of that fluidly in one breath and without hesitation. Then, she looked down with amazing speed.

“Ah, un, indeed. By all mean I would love to hear your thoughts.”

I replied her, both exasperated and not really caring about it anymore. Isshiki seemed somewhat disgruntled as she said,” Your response is a little lacking……” as she puffed out her cheeks.

However, in the fairly long amount of time that I spent waiting for Hayama, Isshiki certainly did help me to overcome the boredom of waiting. Taking a look outside through the windows, one could see the soccer club members walking through the courtyard. Amongst them, I could see the figure of Hayama.

“Isshiki, thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it. That’s about all I can do for you.”

Hearing my word of thanks, Isshiki grinned widely.  To that smile, I replied with a simple “See ya”. As she walked out from the student council room, a gentle voice reached me.

“Senpai, do your best ~”

Turning back, I saw Isshiki had a fist placed in front of her chest as though to cheer me on. Her expression was gentle and her eyes calm.

What do you mean by do my best? I am just going to talk to someone, that’s all. Although any form of reply from me would have sufficed, I didn’t do so.

In place of words, I just waved my hands at her, and soon, I was the only one left in the student council room.

    X                                                                                  X                                                                                   X

The sound of hurried footsteps heading to the courtyard could be heard from the entranceway. Perhaps it was due to the warmth of the student council room just now, but facing the cold wind now stung my cheeks.

Adjusting the front of my coat, and covering my mouth with my muffler, I hurried on.

Because Hayama Hayato was right in front of me.

Tobe, Hayama as well as a bunch of others were walking slowly as they joked about with one another. There were few times where students would walk past each other at this time of the day, hence someone coming from the opposite direction would easily catch one’s attention. As such, Tobe was the first to notice me.

“Oh, Hikitani-kun!”

Waving his hands in a big gesture, Hayama noticed me as well and with a “Ya” and raised his hand.

“Going home now?”

I stopped in front of them, and so they had no choice but to stop as well.

For some reason I stood there just to say this one liner, but I guess it couldn’t be helped. Tobe, reading the mood, wrapped his imitation BurBerry muffler and continued the conversation.

“Yea. Hikitani-kun too?”

“Something like that. ……Ah, I remember now. Hayama, do you have some time?”

Saying that, I glanced over at Hayama.

I wanted my actions to suggest that I had just coincidentally thought of something that I wanted Hayama’s help for. Even for me, I thought that that act of mine was quite a failure. However, thanks to the fact that I don’t talk to people normally, the other guys didn’t notice the slip-up in my attitude.

Of course, Hayama was different.

As though sensing something was up, he shot me a dubious look, even if for just a moment.

Well, that’s to be expected.

Hayama was someone idolized by many, a popular dude who talks to a lot of people as well. From a third person point of view, there seemed to be nothing out of place at all.

However, Hayama knew what my intentions were.

It wasn’t like me to go talking to Hayama on my own; I weren’t on such good terms with him that I would be going home together with him nor was I close enough to him to suddenly just ask him to go and have fun somewhere. The only time when I had business with me was generally those times when I had nothing good to say. He definitely knew that.

As for Hayama, the initial look of doubt that appeared on his face quickly disappeared as he shook his head, and the smile that he always had appeared on his face once more.

“It’s alright. Then, see you Tobe.”

“O, Oh. Well then, see ya again!”

Hayama took a swift glance at Tobe and Tobe nodded his head immediately. Then, the rest of the soccer club members left the place noisily as well.

After watching Tobe and the rest leave, Hayama returned his gaze to me. Then, with a jerk of his jaws, indicated that we should head to the bicycle parking area. I followed his suggestion and began to walk there.

Most of the student population had already headed on home and so the parking area was deserted. The rest of people who were in clubs, or the odd few people could be seen here and there talking boisterously as they made their way home, leaving behind only silence. As the wind blew, the iron roof made a creaking sound and the neglected rust that was smeared on the bicycle made a rattling sound as the bike shook.

The tires made a rattling sound as I unlocked the lock on my bike. In the meantime, Hayama stood beside me. He didn’t do anything special, merely just standing there and waiting for me.

“Where’s your bike?”

“I am going back by train.”

“Ah, I see.”

Then, you came all this way just for me? What’s up with that kindness…… Wait a minute… This meant that this guy knows that I come to school riding a bicycle. That’s scary……

“Then, what are you going to do?”

Hayama posed this question to me.

Well, I was the one who said that I had some business with him. ‘What are we going to do from here’, that is probably something that I was going to decide.

“I think it would be good if we talk a little.”

Be that as it may, it was a talk that I did not want others to hear. I didn’t want us to stand out at all. Moreover, this place is always exposed to the freezing wind. Where would be a good place to have a chat, I wonder. My house? Or maybe Hayama’s house…… Nah, no way in hell.

“For now, where should we go?”

“Indeed, what to do for now……”

Hayama answered as such, and turned to face the direction of the school entrance. I did the same and pushed my bike only.

The sound of footsteps and the rattling of the rust on the bike resonated within the quiet school compound. The school that was as noisy as a zoo during noon time, was now devoid of the sound of people.

This is awkward……

The silence from just now continued on, however, besides that, above all, this composition. This weird scene of the two of us. Even though I was the one who asked him for a talk, it felt kind of awkward to force him to walk since I have a bike……

Eh, what should I do? It’s not right for me to push my bike along and walk at this sort of time?

Or else, is it better in theory that we agree on a meeting place first and meet there through our own means later?

Can anyone teach me! My Melody [7] or Goo[8] is fine! Or maybe Yahoo answers! Help me Yahoo Answers! [9]

As a result of desperately wrangling Yahoo! Answers, I think I have found the solution. Okay! GOOGLE!

Hayama was several steps ahead of me and so I coughed to get his attention.

“Ah, you want to ride?”

“Eh?”

Hayama looked at me blankly. He had an unreadable expression and he looked as though he wanted to say something. Perhaps he didn’t hear me over the wind……

What are you, a thickheaded protagonist? Don’t make me repeat myself, because that’s kind of embarrassing. I saw him quietly standing there, acting dumb. That’s a high-level technique for rejecting someone when asked to ride on a bike together. With that sort of rejection, one probably wouldn’t have the courage to ask that kind of question again. Don’t play around with a young girl’s heart, they are easily broken……

After grumbling about it in my heart, I sighed deeply. I rapped against the luggage carrier at the back and proceeded to ask the same question once more. ……Hachiman! Go for it! Bring out that courage!

“…… No, I mean, I said let’s ride.”

“Ah, that. I thought I heard it wrong the first time.”

Hayama had a gentle smile as he said that.

“Then, I will take you up on your offer.”

“Okay.”

I straddled onto my bike and Hayama went to the back. In the instant he sat on it, the bike slowly sank into the ground. Well then, time to go. Thus, I began to pedal.

Then, out of a blue, I felt a slap on my shoulder and my back jumped reflexively.

“Eh, what?”

Looking back out of fear, I saw Hayama tilt his head slightly to the side. Then, he looked from his own hand to my shoulder.

“Ah, my bad. I was just trying to regain my balance.”

Saying that, he removed his hand from my shoulder, and then grabbed the ends of the bicycle rack so as to put his weight on it.

Fumu. Well, that’s basically what happens when two people ride a bike. If you decide to put your weight forward, you would have to grab onto the riders shoulders or waist, or maybe the saddle. On the contrary, if you put your weight towards the back, you would be adopting a stance similar to what Hayama was doing now. By the way, Komachi does the former! She would put her hands on my waist! Cute!

In any case, the preparations were complete. Placing my feet on the other pedal, I asked Hayama.

“Are you ready?”

“Anytime.”

Hearing him reply in a gentle tone, I pushed down hard on the pedal. Then with a jerk, the bike moved forward.

However, perhaps due to our weight, the handle twisted and turned against my will, and the bike went wobbling about in a zig-zag fashion.

Oh, oh…… It is indeed hard for two guys to ride a bike together……  No one has ever rode the bike together with me except for Komachi. That’s because Komachi is light…… You are so cute Komachi……

On the other hand, the guy that was behind me right now was not cute as all.

“Ummm, want to swap?”

I looked back once more to face the source of the sound and I saw Hayama with a troubled look on him along with a bitter smile.

“Nah, I am fine. It’s alright.”

With a short and curt reply, I went back to pedaling. I can’t just let him take over, it would be kind of embarrassing because it would mean that I can’t even pedal a bike when there are two people! A man has his pride too!

Thanks to my stubbornness, or/and my getting used to it, the bicycle began to progress smoothly. Gradually, the bicycle began to pick up speed as well.

Due to the fact that the streets surrounding the school were reclaimed land, the streets were straight, making it extremely convenient to travel around by bike.

The wind was cold as usual, but since I was moving my body about, I didn’t really feel it. Going along at a smooth pace, I felt Hayama strike my back continuously.

Would you please stop that? Because, what you are doing right now is giving me the chills……

“What business do you have with me?”

I continued pedaling on, without looking back, when I heard Hayama’s voice reach my ears over my shoulders.

“Where should we go?”

Saying that, I realized that from the very beginning, we still had not decided on anyplace to go to at all. Well, whatever, even I knew that at this sort of time, the places that we could easily enter was limited to just a select few.

“…...How about Saize?”

“You really like Saize don’t you?”

Hayama asked me in a surprised tone. What, what’s wrong with Saize!? And so, that thought escaped my mouth unintentionally.

“What, you have something against it? I’ll treat you to coffee there.”

“There’s a drink bar at Saize right?”

I heard something resembling a laugh coming from him. That’s actually somewhat unexpected. He knows that there is a drink bar at Saize?

……Don’t tell me that this guy loves Saize as well?

     X                                                                        X                                                                                   X

I bought two cans of coffee from a vending machine along the highway.

Taking a glance at the highway, I could see the tail lamps of the automobiles. The orange light from it coupled together with the light from the street lamps lit up the area brightly even though its night.

The vending machine dispensed the two cans that I bought, and owing to the heat of the steel can, I juggled them as I headed to the park that was just a little off from the main road. Maybe it was due to the fact of having looked at the cluster of bright lights earlier on, but the park now appeared extremely dark.

The darkness of the park was illuminated slightly by worn-out street lamps. Occasionally, the lamp would give off a creaking sound. The unreliable flickering bluish-white light illuminated two benches that were placed side by side.

Hayama sat himself down at one of the benches and his sitting posture made it seem as though he was looking up at something.

His eyes seemed to be looking at something, but the only thing that stood out in this vicinity was probably only the Saize building, the highway and the overhead bridge. Be it the rows of houses or the eateries, or some multi-story building, when you compare the park against these rows of structures, it seemed as though it was like some earthquake prone area judging from the silence from it.

Thanks to the buildings, the cold wind blows through only occasionally.

I really did want to go into Saize, but there were students from my school who had already parked their bicycles in the parking lot at Saize. There were different colored stickers that were distributed to each student to place on the bicycles that we rode to school. It is an obligation for us to place the stickers on the bicycle where it was easy to spot. The problem was that, the stickers immediately revealed that we were second-years.

Right now, I didn’t want people to overhear our conversations. Naturally, if we rule out Saize from our list of options, the only place left that was nearby was the park. If we went about our conversation in this open space, we would immediately know who was approaching us. If we were going to have a confidential talk, a place where we had a huge unobstructed view was good.

As I approached the bench, Hayama noticed me immediately.

He raised his hand and made a slight motion to indicate his presence. I tossed the can of coffee towards that hand and Hayama caught it easily.

After ensuring that he had indeed caught it, I sat down at the other bench. Clutching the can of coffee to warm my hands, I proceeded to take a sip from it.

Hayama too gripped the can for a short while, then proceeded to do the same as me and gulped down a mouthful.

Then, with a small sigh, he opened his mouth to speak.

“……You said you wanted to talk. Is that about that rumor?”

“Well yea.”

In response to my short answer, Hayama gave a wry smile and replied “I see” in a small voice.

“That rumor is probably bothering both Yui and Yukinoshita-san as well. I am sorry but could you please apologize on my behalf?”

“So you say……”

“Even though I do indeed want to apologize, but to do so now would be a little…… That aside, it’s once again another irresponsible exaggerated rumor. I guess we can’t just leave it alone, huh.”

His way of saying it was evident that this was not the first time he had experienced such a thing. There was this vibe that he was reciting some truth he had obtained from past experiences.

This was very similar to the self-defense measure that she took.

“Well, I guess so……”

If I was in the same position as either him or her, I would probably adopt the same kind of stance as them.

There was absolutely no point in explanations or vindications, and if you tried to frantically deny them, you would probably be at the receiving end of something like “That excessive reaction is proof that we hit the bulls-eye on this!”

If that’s the case, then the easiest way to reduce the damage to the minimum was to simply persist in doing nothing until the others got bored with it.

Even so, even if you did that, you will definitely suffer one way or another.

Regardless of the contents of the rumors or gossips, one would surely be stressed out considerably due to the sheer number of people talking about it amongst themselves.

“Just ignore them,” that is something really easy to say. However, it was human nature to go and see for yourself if one heard strange noises coming from unexpected places. In this world, there were all those busybodies who go about telling each other excessively what the others didn’t need to know.

As far as that is concerned, the way to completely protect yourself against that sort of situation was to totally cut off involvement with the parties involved. However, the people who could actually do that were few. Are you a freaking Buddha? No seriously, you think you are Buddha?! [10]

Yukinoshita Yukino had continued to hold her own against such things since a long time ago whilst Yuigahama Yui was trapped within her enormous circle of friends.

I clenched the steel can in my hand tightly. I looked at the palm of my hand and realized that it was a little red.

“Sorry.”

An unexpected apology came from Hayama. There was no reason for him to apologize now, hence I snuck a glance over at him in curiosity.

“There aren’t many things that I can do.”

Saying that, Hayama gave a faint smile. The lamps illuminated his face, revealing how his eyebrows had drooped ever so slightly to form an expression of remorse.

However, contrary to that expression, the steel can that Hayama was clutching shook ever so slightly. Once again the cold wind started blowing, but I was sure that that was definitely not the reason for it to shake.

I had half-expected Hayama to say those words. Apart from this, there were really no other reasons to blame Hayama.

However, even so.

“Ah, I understand. But still, it can’t just remain like this. There are… circumstances too.”

Turning around to tell him that, I could see that he was squinting at me.

“Circumstances?”

“Yup. ……Well, that, erm, it’s my work after all.”

The words came out of my mouth rapidly and I turned my face away instinctively.

As expected, I didn’t talk about the real reason. I couldn’t tell others exactly what it was when even I couldn’t explain it myself.

That’s why, it was the usual few words that came out of my mouth. The same, cliché phrases.

Thereupon, Hayama sighed shortly, and placed the can of coffee on the bench.

“……So once again, you are talking to me because you are doing work, huh?”

The response that he gave was cold, and in some aspects, I could feel the scorn coming from him. I couldn’t see the expression of Hayama who was sitting right beside me, just the sight of him gripping his fists tightly.

“You haven’t changed one bit.”

The words that he spat out amidst the wind reached my ears distinctly.

The sound of the fallings leaves was like an invisible monster creeping up to me, giving me a most unpleasant feeling.

Thanks to that, my reply to him was sharp as well.

“I’ve said it before, this is just the club’s work. The Service Club’s work.”

“……I see.”

His response was somewhat blunt as well, or perhaps it was just that I was prone to think that his replies were cold.

I think I kind of remember such an exchange with him before. Indeed, that was probably during that time near Christmas.

However, the wind that time was so much colder, and the sky even darker.

Hayama started coughing slightly.

“Avoiding the issue, huh? …… But one cannot run away from it forever.”

The sound that reached my ears were ever so thin and quiet. The voice had neither power nor intonation, yet before I knew it, the hand that I had gripped into a fist had relaxed itself.

Even so, Hayama’s voice still reverberated throughout this silent park.

I had no replies and he didn’t continue on either. The park lapsed once more into silence.

What did Hayama mean, and who was it that he was referring to?

All I had to do was to ask him what he meant, and who he was referring to, but those words did not come out.

But I have to refute him now, or I would never get the chance to!

I opened my mouth to say something, but all that came out was a dry breath. A meaningless sigh.

”Are you done talking with me?”

Hayama’s voice reached my ears and instinctively, I turned to look at him.
“Ah…… No, that’s why, you should think about what to do regarding that rumor.”

Somehow or another, I managed to get those words out of my mouth bit by bit. As Hayama listened to me, he nodded his head and then interrupted what I had wanted to say half-way through with a smile.

“I think that’s good enough on your part.”

Hayama stood up, as though he was telling me that this conversation is already over. The face that looked down upon me was hidden by the shadows of the street-lamp, but it looked somewhat sad to me.

“……I will do something about that rumor.”

“……Something, you say.”

I intended to ask him what it was that he intended to do, but he interrupted me before I could even ask.

“At the end of it all, it’s something that affects me. ……That’s why, you don’t have to worry about it.”

What a soft, gentle and calm tone.

Even so, why do I still feel the frost in his voice?

“Thank you for the coffee.”

Hayama waved the can lightly as he gave his thanks. That appeared to be a substitute for his parting words. Just like that, he began to walk away from the bench.

In the darkness of the park, where the lights of the lamps could not reach.

Even though I knew that he had always been heading on towards the exit of the park, but I had no idea where he intended to go after that.

I watched Hayama disappear into the darkness of the night, just for a short while.

Avoiding the issue……

Just who exactly were those words intended for?

There was no need to think that much to figure that out.

I know.

It’s for me, and you.


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[1] Famous shopping mall in Chiba. http://www.marinpia.co.jp/index.html
[2] Isshiki uses the past tense of “Thank you.” (ありがとうございました) This is generally considered somewhat cold and rude, along the lines of you believe you are never going to see that person ever again.
[3] A nickname given to Youmu Konpaku from Perfect Cherry Blossom of the Touhou Project. Myon is thought to be a portmanteau of the word Myou (Strange) + Hyonna (Unexpected).
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamotte_Shugogetten
[5] Japanese song: Come on a my house. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igb5UWgA0Og
[6] You could think of it as like JLPT X, where X is any number (usually) 1 to 5 with 1 being most proficient.
[7] My Melody – Character by Sanrio. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Onegai_My_Melody_characters
[8] Something like JP’s version of Yahoo! Answers.
[9] I just wanted to point out that in Japan, the literal translation of it will be Yahoo! Bag of wisdom. KEK.
[10] Because Buddhism teaches one to let go of all earthly attachments.